Stories about Literature from January, 2011
Russia, Ukraine: More Tributes to Playwright Anna Yablonskaya
At The Guardian's Comment is Free, Natalia Antonova writes about the Jan. 24 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and about playwright Anna Yablonskaya, who was killed in the attack. Another tribute to Yablonskaya – at The Guardian's Theatre Blog, here.
Jamaica: “Dog-Paw”
“The cliche that truth is stranger than fiction is true”: Active Voice interviews the author of Dog-Heart about parallels with the story of Christopher ‘Dog Paw’ Linton, who was recently arrested by Jamaican police.
Caribbean: Walcott Wins T.S. Eliot Prize
“He has won almost every other poetry award he’s eligible for, and this evening in London it was announced that Derek Walcott has won the 2011 T.S. Eliot Prize for his latest book, White Egrets”: Caribbean bloggers are thrilled at this latest literary accomplishment.
Africa: Queer Africa: Pre-Writing, Writing, Re-Writing
On Queer Africa: …when I am asked to write on “queer Africa” or think about it, (the invitations rarely come, so this is hypothetical), I am asked to do “something” “impossible.”
Cambodian Children Books Project
Cambodian Children Books Project is a collaborative effort of a team of Cambodian writers/artists to create reading books in Khmer for Cambodian school children in Cambodia.
Russia, Ukraine: Playwright Anna Yablonskaya Killed at Domodedovo
“Playwright Anna Yablonskaya is among the dead at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport today,” writes Natalia Antonova. “We heard it from her family.”
Jamaica: following Junot Diaz in Jaipur
Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul, following the Jaipur Literature Festival online, reports on an appearance there by the Dominican-American writer Junot Díaz.
Bhutan: Submit Short Stories for Mountain Echoes Anthology
Siyahi at Writers Association Of Bhutan calls for unpublished original works from Bhutan to compile a significant collection of short fiction by emerging and established writers from Bhutan.
Lusophone Culture: Buala “Giving Voice” to Contemporary African Cultures
They propose “to create new views, free from prejudice and colonial judgment,” of contemporary African cultures, and in an interview with Global Voices, Marta Lança and Francisca Bagulho talk about the creation of Buala: “an interdisciplinary web portal for reflection, critique and documenting Portuguese-speaking Africa.”
Jamaica: No More Calabash
Regional bloggers continue to say their farewells to Jamaica's beloved annual Calabash International Literary Festival, which has come to an end after ten years.
Nigeria: Discussion with Nigerian fantasy-sci-fi writer
Bunmi posts a link to a video of an hour long discussion with Nigerian fantasy-sci-fi writer Nnedi Okorafor: “Here she touches on race, paralysis and plant worlds.”
Jamaica: So Long, Calabash
“Well, the news of the moment is that Jamaica’s beloved Calabash International Literary Festival is no more”: Active Voice and The Caribbean Review of Books bid a fond farewell.
Zimbabwe: Call for Submissions: “Remembering Marechera”
A call for Submissions for a new anthology titled “Remembering Marechera”: “To celebrate Dambudzo Marechera’s posthumous 59th birthday this year I will be putting together an ebook anthology entitled “Remembering Marechera”, consisting of essays, reviews, short stories, poems, etc. that follow this theme, to be published by StoryTime Publishing. To...
Argentina: Writer and Musician María Elena Walsh Dies
Argentinian writer and musician María Elena Walsh died at age 80 on January 10, 2011. Argentinians remember her children's books and songs; in the blog Botica Cultural [es] Guadalupe Sánchez posted pictures of two cassettes by María Elena Walsh she listened to as a child.
Brazil: The Second Sex
Niara de Oliveira, at her blog Pimenta com Limão [Pepper with Lemon, pt], honors the memory of the French feminist Simone de Beauvoir, born on January 9, 1908. Niara also shares links to download one of Beauvoir's most famous books, “The Second Sex”.
Japan: 2010 in Manga
A look back to 2010 with Neojaponisme's Matthew Penney who “presents [en] some highlights of 2010 that speak to different directions in contemporary manga” [en]. Among those also Saint Young Men and Thermae Romae.
Africa: History of the continent for download
The multimedia collective tás a ver? recommends [pt] the General History of Africa Collection for those eager to “understand the true history of the African continent“. The 8 volumes were recently published in Portuguese, and UNESCO has made this version available [pt] free for download.
Puerto Rico: Poetry is Busy
Poet and blogger Yarisa Colón comments on the event “Poetry is Busy” [es] at the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Juan: “It was a wonderful night. I read in front of people (40+) as if I was reading to my sister in the room, comfortably. I read with happiness....
Jamaica, Bahamas: three poets
Charmaine Valere shares her thoughts on “three Caribbean men of verse”–Jamaican poets Geoffrey Philp and Kei Miller and Bahamian Christian Campbell–whose poems she enjoyed in 2010.
